SL6B AND THE FRINGE FESTIVAL - Will you participate?

Time for the healing. What's left of the SL5B Organizing Team have decided NOT to work with D. Linden next year. Here is the notecard sent to many current exhibitors:

Fringe Festival Information


In the wake of all the changes and uncertainty with the SL Birthday celebration sponsored by Linden Lab, several of us have decided to create a new group to run the Resident birthday celebrations next year. Instead of calling it a "fringe festival" it will be the Resident Birthday Bash.

Although our goal for 2009 is to create our own event to celebrate Second Life's birthday, we want this to become a cross-metaverse event, as well. Furthermore, if we have the resources, we would like to make this a venue to run Resident events throughout the year. With that in mind, we have created a parent organization: Virtual Resident Events.

Look for kiosks to join the Resident Birthday Bash group. They will be scattered around SL5B, as permitted. The kiosks will allow you to register your interest (it's not an SL group, so it won't take an additional slot).

The current organizers of this particular event are (in alphabetical order) Pyrii Akula, Shoshana Epsilon, SignpostMarv Martin, and Will Web. Welcome to the Resident Birthday Bash.

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To whom it may concern at Linden Lab,

In the interest of transparency and good will, I would like to inform you of a new Resident-run initiative. A Second Life fringe festival.

For several years, Linden Lab has graciously provided space for the Residents of Second Life to showcase their talents. For their part, the Residents receive recognition from their peers. (Due to my participation in SL3B, I was interviewed for Le Monde on-line magazine and asked to participate in the University of Texas at Dallas' first display of Resident art. Later, I was asked to be the art director for SL4B and SL5B. My continued presence has given me additional exposure to be asked to be curator and board member for several galleries.)

I understand the need to provide a squeaky-clean image to the "outside" world. Honestly, I want Second Life to continue and succeed as much as you do. However, many artists and exhibitors find the "squeaky clean" image that you wish to portray as being too restrictive. In truth, there are MANY aspects of Second Life, and the G rated version is only part of it.

In the image of the International Arts Festival at Edinburgh with its associated Fringe Festival, several of us from within the community wish to have our own fringe festival. The intent is that Linden Lab's Birthday event is to the Resident event as the Edinburgh International Arts Festival is to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival: the official, major event, and the supplementary smaller event. We would welcome your cooperation in coordinating these two separate events so that they can support each other and create a stronger whole.

We have yet to actually name our event, but I am rather fond of calling ti the 'fringe festival' following a concept commonly used in Great Britain. (There are actually concurrent fringe festivals in many cities throughout northern England and Scotland.) The festival organizers will be meeting in the upcoming weeks and months to iron out these details, and we welcome input from all sources on how we can construct a truly wonderful festival to celebrate all the things we love about Second Life.


For 2009, we will be asking individuals and corporations, rather than Linden Lab, to donate the use of their sims to host a festival concurrent with Second Life's 6th birthday. In subsequent years, if this is successful, we may include other non-birthday events, especially if we can arrange long term donor support.


The intention of this event is not to take attention away from your primary event(s). It is to allow additional participation by people who love this place and see it as "home".

In thanks for your continued support,

Pyrii Akula
Shoshana Epsilon
SignpostMarv Martin
Will Webb

Is this a solution? And will you attend both festivals next year?

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Why am I reminded of the closing of most of these forums in the hopes that "focused resident communication" would continue elsewhere?

Sounds like festivities don't scale against their staff.

annnnd the plot thickens.

Yeah, I'll participate.

Incidentally, that open letter has been kicking around for a few days at least. (And hadn't the signatories already left their roles at SL5B some weeks ago?) I've commented elsewhere that the future Fringe Festival and this year's Kids5B are really the right way for these mega-events to be structured anyway, with a core of pure Linden content as sort of the stepping-off point. Exactly right, Jeffrey: that approach scales, and keeps LL's feet out of the fire for "sponsoring" content they just can't be in a position to endorse. Seems win-win to me.

To whom it may concern at LL,

Hi. I am a professional large-scale event producer. Just give me control of 20 sims and it be taken care of. No, it won't be G, but there won't be a Hard Alley exhibit either.

Thanks,

Isablan

I guess.

But I'll tell you - though I sympathize, don't get me wrong; I mean, look who I am - I gotta say it's gonna start getting a little hard to keep track of all these counter-events.

As long as Goreans are welcome wearing collars I'll be more than happy to attend, offer my assistance, time and anything else I can to make the event a success. As a nurse on disability after 5 back surgeries I have plenty of time to spare and would be proud to be associated with an event where ALL the diverse communities in Second Life can be represented. Just contact me.

Count me in - my preference in First Life is for performing at / supporting fringe celebrations, since they're usually rather more edgy than the main event, so there's no reason why my approach in Second Life should be any different

If I can be of any use - count me in too - this sounds like a great idea

What's wrong with having a Hard Alley exhibit?? Most of the people at Hard Alley are exhibitionist by nature.

Didn't that happen this year? (o.o)

Kids5B anyone? (o.o)

And, was there a rule against collars @ 5B? I wore my collar (okay, non-gorean, but still) the whole time in both events and never got any flak. (o.o)

I'd certainly consider being an exhibitor at next year's birthday bash. I had fun making exhibits for both SL5B and Kids5B.

I think at SL5B they did not stop anyone from *wearing* a collar, as a fashion accessory or a basic A/O. But if the wearer insisted on being leashed or on using the clearly non-PG poses in some collars, that might have caused some flack. After all, what, really, is the difference between wearing a collar passively, and weating an unscripted Choker necklace? I have several nice dresses in SL that include a decorative choker.

I think Kids5B proved that there is no reason LL has to provide the sims for free and host the event. Yes, it was certainly nice of LL to provide 20 sims for SL5B. But the strings that were attached to that "gift" of server space ruined the event for quite a few residents. A resident-run event with no LL involvement at all would likely be smaller, as it would be difficult to come up with a contiguous block of resident-owned and managed sims suitable for the event. But it would definitely be worth doing.

Perhaps LL could agree to at least waive the fee on temporarily relocating a number of volunteered sims to a single location, and moving them back again when the event is over? They still would not be providing the server space for free. It would be paid for by the donors who volunteered the use of their regular or OpenSpace sims for the event. But if they felt even that small action on their part would entitle them to censor the event, then we could do without their aid entirely. The event could even be held as part of a sim-hopping network of sims that didn't touch each other at all, with each sim having a central station that gives out notecards containgng LM's for the other participating sims, or even parcels.

Worth repeating

Hm.

I suppose Caledon could be set up at both events if people are interested; as it turned out it was pretty low drama (for us) at SL5B and I think a Fringe Festival thing would be alright too.

But no way am I committing to an "either this one or that one" sort of situation, it sounds soap-opera-ish and destined for trouble that way. I can almost promise there will be *some* issue to bicker over no matter who runs what.

All this is at a really rotten time of year; RFL is wrapping up here soon and between the birthdays and the charities people can only get so busy!

And if it came to it, RFL would "win" - as much as it's cool to go to a party or whatever, it's the cancer folks that have a better claim on needing our attention and $L.

Perhaps if the Fringe festival was at a different time of year (not overlapping Burning Life too please!) it would sure help.